


my boyfriend's back

by rywaen



Series: Requests and Drabbles [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Double Dating, Fluff, Implied Ignorance, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Slow Dancing, Tony basically is a dick, but things get better from there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-20
Updated: 2014-05-20
Packaged: 2018-01-25 20:58:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1662206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rywaen/pseuds/rywaen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In all honesty, everyone involved should have known that this was destined to be a train wreck.</p>
<p>A reluctant double date with Steve and Bucky with Tony and Bruce leaves everyone wondering exactly why any of them had agreed to do such a stupid thing in the first place.</p>
            </blockquote>





	my boyfriend's back

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rejuvenescenceia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rejuvenescenceia/gifts).



> _my boyfriend's back and_   
> _you're gonna get in trouble_   
> _(hey ya, hey ya, my boyfriend's back)_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> This came to be because I reblogged a post on tumblr that said "I swear if Age of Ultron doesn’t open to Tony greeting Steve like "So I’ve heard your boyfriend’s back.", I’ll be pissed" ([x](http://didipenny.tumblr.com/post/85769474576/i-swear-if-age-of-ultron-doesnt-open-to-tony))  
> and then my friend lotus sent me a message about it in my ask box  
> "a reluctant double date with stevebucky and tonybruce, and tony is just being his usual asshole self and steve is just '-.- why did I agree to this?' and bucky is just '8I what is up with this guy what the hell steve' and bruce is just patting bucky's back, trying to keep him from getting overwhelmed"  
> and the point is that I had to.
> 
> You can always hang out with me on my [tumblr](http://rywaen.co.vu) and find my commission info [here](http://rywaen.co.vu/commish+donation).

In all honesty, everyone involved should have known that this was destined to be a train wreck.

Steve, ever the kindhearted soul, had decided to give Tony the benefit of the doubt when he’d approached him out of the blue, immediately blurting, “So, I’ve heard your boyfriend’s back.” The inventor had practically shown up out of thin air while Steve was going through his morning workout routine in the Avengers tower gym. Even with a light sheen of sweat beginning to bead on his brow and the punching bag still swinging from the force of his last punch, Steve looked completely done with this conversation before it had even begun.

“Yeah, Bucky’s back. He’s not really my boyfriend, though—“ he began, hitting the punching bag a few more times even as Tony perched himself on the corner of the boxing ring a few feet away, arms looping over the ropes and his legs crossing easily.

“You know, denial ain’t just a river in Egypt, Cap,” Tony told him, smirking even when Steve shot him a none-too-impressed look.

“I’m not in denial, Stark.”

“Good. That just means that this next part will be easier for the both of us.”

A sigh broke free and Steve grabbed the punching bag to make it stop swinging as he instead bowed his head and shook it slowly. Better to just get it over with.

“What do you want, Tony?”

“A date.” Steve immediately gave him an incredulous look, making Tony raise his hand with a singular finger up to make his words freeze on his lips. “A _double_ date. You and Mr. Freeze with me and Jolly Green.”

While the thought of a double date wasn’t, well, awful, Steve’s lips set into a thin line when Tony said just who was being invited.

“Don’t call him that, Stark.”

“What? Bruce? He’s fine with it, he likes it, but fine I can work around the pet names—“

“Not Banner. Don’t call Bucky Mr. Freeze. Or Ice Man. Or anything even hinting at ice or being frozen, you got that?” Okay, so he hadn’t meant to practically end up looming over Stark with a murderous look in his eyes as he jabbed a finger hard against where Tony’s arc reactor used to be, but it did get the point across. Tony’s hands flew up in surrender without much of a fuss, scooting back as far as he could, which honestly wasn’t that far.

“Sorry, okay, no ice jokes. You got it, Capsicle.”

The immediate response was Steve’s face falling from anger to exasperation but he only rolled his eyes instead of getting on Tony’s case about that too. So long as he could keep him from making fun of Bucky, the inventor could call him whatever the hell he wanted to.

“So. Double date. How’s it sound? I was thinking maybe a classic diner, maybe we could drink milkshakes together. Or was that a bit after your time? Maybe some laser tag instead? More modern, tons of fun. Bruce and I are a great team, don’t let Katniss tell you otherwise, the cheater.”

While milkshakes were delicious, albeit after Steve’s ‘time’ as Tony called it, he doubted Bucky would want to sit in a booth with him, Stark, and Doctor Banner. Not even including the fact that they were all adults and he was pretty sure that was more of a teenage thing to do. And laser tag, well, guns being fake or not, it was probably the last thing that Bucky needed right then.

“I don’t think so,” he decided with a frown, working on unwrapping his knuckles since he figured that he wouldn’t be able to get any more of his workout done with Tony bugging him the whole time.

It wasn’t that he thought Bucky couldn’t handle it; in fact, Bucky’s recovery was going fantastically. His memory was still choppy and his nightmares were still pretty frequent, but he was smiling much more often and he had taken to Steve immediately, barely wanting to leave his side for more than an hour at a time. It had been easier once they’d both moved into the Avenger’s tower after Tony’s insistent prodding, giving them plenty of room while also having a lot of good company so close.

So no, he wasn’t afraid that Bucky couldn’t handle it. It was more the fact that Bucky was still pretty withdrawn around the others and he seemed perfectly content to talk to only Steve, Natasha, and Sam when he called or came to visit.

“Oh come _on,_ Rogers. You’ve got to say yes, I got Bruce all hyped up about it already. Don’t make me have to tell him you said no.” Steve glanced at him just in time to see the pitiful excuse he had going for puppy-dog eyes before he rolled his eyes again and shook his head.

“Look, I just don’t think that a diner or laser tag would be the best idea. For any of those involved.”

“Alright, fine. How about a fancy dinner? I can make a reservation. Maybe we could go to a privately screened movie, too. Nothing too stressful.”

While that sounded better, Steve still wasn’t sure if Bucky would even agree to the outing in the first place. They had gone out too many times to count, just the two of them, since Bucky had been getting better and wanting to explore the world with clearer eyes. But they had never gone on a group outing, let alone a date.

Then again, it wasn’t as if they were going out dancing.

“I’ll ask Bucky,” he decided, holding up a hand to stop Stark from celebrating immediately, “Don’t. It’s his choice and if he says no, that’s final. I’ll let you know by the end of the day.”

Surprisingly, Bucky had agreed.

Not that he wanted to spend a whole evening with Tony Stark, of all people, but his therapist had told him that he needed to start interacting with more people outside of just Steve. And besides that, Steve had been so nice about it, telling him no less than ten times that if he said no, they wouldn’t even discuss it again.

The date had been set for the next night, a mass text sent out by Stark to each of their phones with instructions to wear formal-but-not-quite-black-tie attire and to meet him in his garage at four pm on the dot the next evening.

In preparation, Steve took Bucky out to one of the nearest formal shops and picked them each out a new casual suit. They’d been needing to get with the new century’s fashion anyway, he told him, making Bucky laugh.

While the tailor helped them pick out styles and colors and fabrics, Steve cracked jokes under his breath about how, “when he was this whippersnapper’s age” and Bucky had to bite down on one of his metal knuckles to hide his shit-eating grin. He unfortunately couldn’t hide the way the silent laughter shook his shoulders as Steve leaned in and breathed against his ear, “Wanna find out if we can get a senior citizen’s discount?”

The tailor ended up shooting them curious looks the entire time, clearly tempted to kick them out; if only they hadn’t been Captain America and Captain America’s Best Friend.

(They still weren’t sure about using the Winter Soldier title as Bucky’s ‘superhero’ name, so for now he was just back to being Captain America’s Best Friend, which suited him just fine.)

By the time half-after three the next evening rolled around, Steve was helping Bucky tie his tie in front of the elevator as they got ready to head down to Tony’s garage.

“And you’re sure about this?” Steve asked for what had to be the millionth time, making Bucky just give him a tight smile and a look that clearly told him that he was testing his patience.

“Stevie, I know you’re going to mother-hen me until the cows come home, but when I say yeah, I’m fuckin’ sure, I mean it. Got it? Because it’s the last time I’m saying it. I’m serious.”

“I know, I know,” Steve said with a sigh and a nod as he smoothed down the somewhat messy knot of Bucky’s tie.

“Look,” he began, reaching up with his right hand to push his fingers through Steve’s hair, both messing it up a bit and fixing it all in one swoop. “You can worry about me all you want. You’ve earned the right, gettin’ to be so much bigger than me an’ all. But I’ve got this and you’ll be the first to know if I lose it.”

Steve just nodded and let out a short huff as Bucky moved his hand down to instead playfully punch him on the shoulder, a smug grin on his face.

“Punk.”

“Jerk.”

And that fixed everything. The worry that gripped Steve’s heart suddenly eased and he let out a deep breath before nodding and fixing his own tie once more as he stepped up to the elevator and hit the call button for it to open. It was still disappointing, not having the usual elevator music play that he was used to, but thankfully he could fix that.

“Jarvis?” he asked, looking up to the floor number, simply because he had nowhere to look directly at Jarvis but the glowing red numbers would do just fine.

“Yes, sir?” his voice came from all around them, more comforting than jarring as it was once when he hadn’t been expecting a voice to come from nowhere. Bucky didn’t even startle at his kind voice anymore.

“We’re going down to Tony’s garage. If you could play my soundtrack on our way down, that’d be great.” He grinned at Bucky, watching as he leaned back against the handrail and crossed his legs in front of him, eyebrow raised.

“Of course, sir.” Immediately after his reply came, the smooth, tinny sound of a jazz band played through the overhead speakers and Steve settled back against the wall beside Bucky, their shoulders brushing comfortably.

“You would.”

“You’re damn right I would.” Steve replied, making Bucky laugh out loud. And then he pushed away from the wall and stood in front of Steve, not giving him any kind of warning before he pulled him forward and began leading him in a slow dance. Billy Holiday crooned at them through the speakers and Steve still didn’t know how to dance properly. But he’d followed Bucky all his life and following him through the steps of a simple dance wasn’t really all that difficult.

They still danced as the elevator doors slid open and they heard the soft sound of someone clearing their throat, making them finally stop. Steve turned and Bucky looked past him, both of them seeing Bruce standing at the doorway, dressed in a faded jacket and slightly scuffed shoes that looked like they came straight out of Bucky’s closet from 1938.

“I can wait for the next one, if you want,” Bruce told them kindly as he finished cleaning his glasses on the hem of his dress shirt and slid them back into place on the bridge of his nose.

“No, no of course not! We’re all going to the same place, anyway,” Steve said quickly, pulling away from Bucky a bit more to gesture for Bruce to join them. He nodded gently and made his way inside, his shoulders pulled forward and looking as if he was trying to make himself as small as possible, just as he always did.

The doors slid closed again and it was silent between them save for Billie Holiday still crooning above them for the first few seconds. Surprisingly enough, Bucky was the one to break the silence.

“I thought Steve and I were meant to be the geriatrics,” he murmured, snickering as both Bruce and Steve glanced at him, the blond’s eyebrows rising higher and higher. His head whipped around to look to Bruce on his other side, not sure if he should be apologizing or laughing. Oh, how he wanted to laugh.

“You know, you’re right,” Bruce told him with a chuckle, fixing his glasses again and shifting from one foot to the other and crossing his arms over his chest. “I really should update my wardrobe, I’m sure Tony will point that out faster than you did.”

A good natured laugh from Bucky made a slow smile spread across Steve’s lips and he shifted and clasped his hands together in front of him. He couldn’t help but feel a swell of pride and love in his chest as Bucky laughed while talking to someone other than himself. Not that he didn’t want to continue hearing Bucky’s laughter overflowing at his own dumb jokes and jabs, but it was nice to see someone else drawing that lovely sound out of him.

The doors slid open again and Tony was standing there waiting for them, holding his hands up and grinning as Bruce stepped forward before Steve and Bucky.

“Bruce! There you are,” he cooed, cupping his face in his hands and pressing their lips together before leaving a kiss on his cheek as well. Bruce immediately flapped his hands at him and chuckled, stepping back and fixing his glasses once more before looking back over his shoulder and watching as the other two followed him out of the elevator.

“Gentlemen,” Tony greeted them, nodding once before heading over to the car and opening his door and gesturing for them to follow. “Shall we?”

They all piled into the car that was probably expensive enough to make Steve’s heart give out so he tried not to think about it as he slid close to Bucky. Their fingers twined together and it made Steve’s cheeks flush just enough to make Bucky snicker at him. At some point, he felt eyes on him when they were stuck in traffic and he knew that Tony was watching them. Not that he minded too terribly, but still.

The restaurant was definitely a bit more high-end than Steve was prepared for and he glanced at Bucky to see that he hadn’t been expecting something quite as ritzy either. Still, they both did their best to contain their excitement and snarky comments, instead just settling in at the private table Tony had reserved for them.

Bruce and Bucky sat side by side, Tony and Steve sitting next to one another and across from their respective dates. Tony gave the lot of them a wide grin and spread himself out, one of his arms laid across the back of Steve’s chair.

At first, things were going fine. An easy chatter kept the conversation going as they ordered appetizers and drinks, everyone but Tony looking over the menu to try and decide on an entrée. It was one of those places where they didn’t put the prices on the menu, which made Steve share a look with Bucky and he shook his head. He felt a soft kick hit his shin from under the table and they snickered with one another until they each got curious looks from both Tony and Bruce.

Neither of them explained a thing.

Which, honestly, might have started the whole downhill tumble.

“So, you two,” Tony began, finishing his scotch and setting the glass down with a hard _thunk_. “At least one of you is in denial. How about the other one?”

“What?” Bucky asked, pausing with his fork in the air, a bite of salad stuck to the end of it and his brow furrowing in confusion.

“Are you in denial too? Capsicle’s firmly in the camp of ‘not boyfriends’.” This only made Bucky’s frown deepen and he set his fork down to instead glance up at Steve.

The blond was, of course, not very pleased that Tony had brought this up to Bucky and he switched between frowning at the billionaire and giving Bucky a reassuring glance.

“I honestly don’t think that’s any of your business, Stark,” Bucky grumbled, keeping his eyes on Steve even as he spoke to Tony.

“Oh, c’mon, you’ve gotta be somewhat progressive. Get with the times, grandpa!” Tony crowed and Bruce gave him a stern look. Honestly, it wasn’t anyone’s business but their own.

“Stark, you should just quit while you’re ahead. You’ve clearly got no idea what you’re talking about,” Steve told him, still trying to keep calm so that he didn’t raise his voice in the middle of the restaurant.

“—I mean, I know that back then, you weren’t quite as keen on the idea of equality and all that, but you’ve been around long enough in this day and age to get with it.”

“Tony—“ Bruce began, getting cut off by the sound of Bucky’s metal fingers digging into the wood of the table and he reached over to slowly rub at the brunette’s back in a friendly gesture.

“—Son. Don’t you dare. You have no idea what you’re talking about and I suggest you quit while you’re ahead before I decide to get really angry.”

And that was true. Not many people realized that Steve and Bucky had grown up together in one of the most progressively gay neighborhoods in Brooklyn in the 30s. When walking to and from work, Bucky and Steve had both seen more men in drag and on their knees in back alleys than either of them could count. It was normal, and when they had kissed for the first time when they barely even knew how to handle their feelings for one another, they didn’t think it wrong.

After all they had been through, Steve wasn’t going to just sit idly by and let some clueless bastard talk to them as if they were the ignorant ones.

“Did you _really_ just call me _son?”_  Tony asked with more than just a small amount of bite to his words.

By now, Steve had turned even more to face Tony, a deep scowl creasing his features as Bucky still gripped the table. Bruce’s forehead was resting in his hand, his elbow on the table as he kept his other hand on Bucky’s back, trying to keep the both of them calm. The last thing they needed was to destroy the restaurant.

“Can we please not?” Bruce asked with a sigh, which was promptly ignored by all at the table.

“Partner.” Bucky’s voice cut through the bickering and both Tony and Steve turned their attention to him, Tony’s expression confused while Steve’s was soft and somewhat sad.

“Buck, you don’t—“

“Steve’s my partner. Always has been. Always will be. You wanted to know, now you fucking do,” he bit out and Steve rubbed at his own forehead.

“Wait, you don’t mean married, do you?”

“Closest thing to it without having a certificate.”

To his credit, that seemed to finally shut Tony up enough for him to have the decency to look sheepish, especially when Bruce looked up to meet his eyes and give him a tired glare.

“Oh. Right,” he said with a swallow, the whole table quiet now as they seemed to be trying to process this new information. A few times, Tony opened his mouth and sat forward a bit more as if he was getting ready to launch into a new tirade of questions, but each time he thought better of it.

At some point, Steve reached across the table and gently grasped Bucky’s cybernetic hand in his own, rubbing at the leather of the glove he kept on it so that he could have some semblance of grip. This little display of care and affection effectively shut the entire table up until their waiter came back and asked for their orders.

The rest of dinner had gone by with an awkward feeling still lingering in the air even as Bruce tried to keep a steady stream of smalltalk going between himself, the Captain and Bucky. It worked well enough, making the evening go by relatively smoothly for the rest of the night while they ate and drank, Tony mostly keeping his thoughts to himself.

It was only when they had arrived back at the tower, bellies full and soft smiles on Bruce’s and Steve’s lips as they conversed softly, did Tony speak up again.

“You know,” he began, making the other three men turn to look at him expectantly. “Maybe if you made it official, people wouldn’t feel the need to pry so much. Just a thought.”

A quick shrug of his shoulders and a hand wrapped gently around Bruce’s bicep, leading him to the elevator to leave the other two alone in the common living area of the tower. Once Bruce and Tony had gone, it was quiet between them for a long while, Steve shuffling his feet forward so that there was little room between them, his hands resting on Bucky’s biceps, the familiar feeling of skin beneath one sleeve and hard metal beneath the other.

“You alright?”

“ _God_ , Steve, yes!” Bucky groaned, though he laughed as he said it. “I’m fine. You don’t have to constantly worry about me. That was my goddamn job in the first place. Jesus Christ.”

Chuckling softly, Steve pulled him in for a tight hug, pressing his face into Bucky’s hair and breathing softly as he felt the brunette’s lips brush against his throat as he tilted his head up.

“As much as he is a nosy bastard, he is right,” he murmured, making Steve draw back and meet his eyes with a wide hopefulness in them.

“Yeah?”

“Of course, you punk. Why the hell would I joke about that?”

“Dunno. Fergit I asked,” he laughed and Bucky slid their hands together and smiled up at him, his left hand falling to Steve’s waist.

“Jarvis? Play Steve’s playlist again for us, would you?”

“Of course, sirs.”

They danced for at least an hour or two and Bucky only gave him a minimal amount of shit whenever Steve tripped over his own feet or stamped down hard on Bucky’s. He’d learn the proper way by following Bucky’s lead. It would just take time. And honestly, they had all the time in the world.


End file.
